Every Pool Owner's Worst Nightmare

[elsie]

As it turns out, the liner guy most recommended is the same guy who installed my present liner about 10 years ago (4 years before I bought the property), and unlike all the other liner outfits I met or spoke with, he was far more knowledgeable and paid infinitely more attention to details, and could answer all my questions, and even had real-live liner samples, so I hired him. He apparently used to build pools, but now just does liners -- a lot less hassle he said after 28 years in the business.

The main drain will be history. He's not charging extra to fill it in and do the patchwork. He thought he remembered that the walls of my pool are wood construction. Insatiably curious, after he left I sliced a wall of the liner and through the foam barrier and sure enough, it's a very hard, very even type of wood. I asked him wouldn't wood rot? He said no, surprisingly. But, he did say that my pool was poorly built. There's going to be significant patching because you can see the divits in the deep end walls that have developed over time -- this concerns him a little. Still, with the new liner, foam, patchwork within reason, removal of main drain, and restoring most of the pvc's at the pump, he's charging hundreds less than the competition -- $2675. (By the way, I mis spoke earlier--plus I asked liner guy--there's only one incoming pipe that comes from underground with the water-valve that connects to the 2ndary skimmer basket, and then the one outgoing pipe that connects to/comes from the multi-port (not the sand filter as I reported) and returns the water to the pool -- and yes, my pump is far below sea level.
Janet, I ended up (with some angst) choosing the Santa Fay liner style from taraliners.com. How can you really know without seeing an installation? I even put the brochure on the bottom of the shallow end (water's still in there and not green, even after 12 days now) and stood on it but it was of no help. The liner guy also said a 20/20 mil for my pool is actually better than a 28/20 because the thicker the liner the less pliable it will be in all the nooks and crannies/where the walls and floor meet etc.; and the warranty (20 years pro-rated, two years full) is the same.

I'll let you know how it turns out, and no doubt will need some start up assistance as I try to balance the new water. I'm going to both use the backyard hose and run a longer hose from the front so I can fill it up as quickly as possible. I think I may just wait to chlorinate or add CYA until it's filled and the pump is running. I don't think the water will go crazy green in 2-3 days, especially when it will be on the colder side. Probably the first thing I should do is backwash, as I know there's debris in the pipes, then add half the CYA, add bleach, check the TA and pH and go from there.

All I can say is, how fortunate I am to have incurred this damage. This guy, too, was flabergasted that insurance is paying for replacement and not pro-rating or, at the very least, speaking with a pool person. I mean, his mouth dropped open and he was speechless. I feel a bit like I've won the lottery when, usually, I never win.